Late push by Gretna fails to secure points

Lowland League Gretna had to settle for draw at Whitehill

Gretna battled to a 1-1 draw against Whitehill Welfare in the Lowland League on Saturday.

Early play saw the sides testing each other and it was all a bit frantic. A cross by Joe Slattery found Darren Addison but the Gretna midfielder’s shot just cleared the crossbar.

Meanwhile, at the other end, Graham Wright gathered a shot from Andrew Kidd after 10 minutes.

The visitors were enjoying lots of possession and, when a Steven Rudd free-kick found Brandon Longcake unmarked, a goal looked certain until Welfare keeper Bryan Young pulled off a spectacular one-handed save.

Welfare were limited to long balls for McIntosh to run on to and it worked in the 28th minute when he put them ahead.

Whitehill rode their luck on a couple of occasions with Iain Anderson outpacing the Welfare back four but twice the big Gretna forward shot just the wrong side of the post with the keeper beaten. Slattery should have scored when he ran on to a Rudd cross but his header was straight at the keeper. The game set off at a terrific pace in the second half with both sides eager to score the next goal.

Gretna drew level in the 58th minute when Blake was brought down by Gareth Thom in the box. Iain Anderson stepped forward and sent Young the wrong way with his penalty kick.

The game was played mostly in Welfare territory for the rest of the half as the visitors looked more likely to score. Anderson, Slattery and Longcake were unlucky not to add to the score as Welfare found it difficult to cope with Gretna’s movement.

Welfare’s McIntosh should have scored in the 75th minute but Wright was on hand to make a comfortable save.

Despite having numerous corners in the closing stages, Gretna couldn’t find the back of the net and game ended in a draw.